The chemiluminescent device with a thin film as its shell has been structurally designed since people started to use chemiluminescent technology. Its shape could be easily changed or endowed with patterns, however, there is scarcely any practical products produced or applied through the ages. In the following, we will expound & analyze this phenomenon from the fundamental principle of chemiluminescence.
Generally, chemiluminescence for civil use is generated from the chemical reaction by mixing chemiluminescent chemicals, such as substituted-phenyl bis oxalate, fluorescent, oxidizer, activator, solvent etc. The ingredients that contain substituted-phenyl bis oxalate (bis oxalate for short) are called luminescent agents or ingredients that contain bis oxalate, while the ingredients that contain peroxide such as oxidizer are known as oxidizer or activating agent. Usually, the peroxide used is hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide. Generally speaking, the fluorescent agent is in the ingredients, which contain bis oxalate, and the activator is in the one that contains peroxide such as oxidizer. However, this is not absolute. It is feasible that fluorescent agent is in ingredients which contain oxidizer, while activator is in the one that contains bis oxalate. The same situation can be applied to the using of solvent. The ingredients that contain oxidizer or bis oxalate could be dissolved in solvent; also the solvent could be used in only one of them. Under different environments, the glowing effect of ingredients with high viscosity or a solid could be achieved by using different solvents or dispersants, even without using solvents. Chemiluminescence can be obtained by mixing the above-mentioned ingredients that respectively contain luminescent agent or oxidizer. In the field of chemiluminescence, any one or the compound of chemicals got involved, such as bis oxalate, peroxide, fluorescent agent, activator and solvents etc. are collectively called chemiluminescent chemicals. Under normal conditions, the most widely used substituted-phenyl bis oxalate refers to Bis (2, 4, 5-trichloro amyl salicylate) oxalate (CPPO) or Bis (2, 4, 5-trichloro isoamyl salicylate) oxalate (CIPO). Detailed exposition on the technology in this respect had been in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,749,679, 3,911,038, 4,508,642 and 6,126,871.
As bis oxalate tends to be hydrolyzed, generally the ingredients that contain bis oxalate are required to be isolated from the moisture in the air. The moisture has a strong impact on glowing effect, and could even lead to product failure. So in chemiluminescent devices, ingredients that contain bis oxalate are usually sealed in ampoule made from glass. When using the device, the ampoule is broken to mix them with ingredients which contain oxidizer, and then glowing could be achieved. The usage of glass restricts development of many products, especially the ones with thin shell. Piercing and security problems of the broken glass have hampered development of product forms.
In China patent CN1427933A, it expounds a technology for storing bis oxalate by using composite of aluminum foil compounded with macromolecular materials. In this technology, Polyethylene or Polypropylene coating is overlaid or deposited on the surface of aluminum foil, and then the foil is made into bags by welding. However, polyolefin coating is so thin to get mechanical bearing strength. While the aluminum foil itself almost has no mechanical strength. These factors determine that the capacity of the sealing bag, in which oxalate solution is stored, can not be too big. Usually, it is about 1-2 ml. When it is more than 2 ml, the bag is easy to damage & leak during storage and transport. At the same time, this kind of composite material made from aluminum foil and polymer is frail in production. It is easy to crack and damage. Moreover, it is not suitable to use the bag made from aluminum foil with the polyolefin coating on its surface to store oxidizer solution, as the coating could be detached from aluminum foil under the action of peroxide.
Even if we do not consider existing techniques on storage period, there are also some problems that need improving for the chemiluminescent device made from thin film, such as: the liquid inside existing chemiluminescent component that is made from thin film, is prone to flow to lower part when the device is used not laid flat, thus affecting the use effect. At the same time, as thin film is soft, it can not be endowed with shapes required easily. In addition, when the existing chemiluminescent products are used as light source for displaying the patterns, typical applications are in this way—the patterns are printed or stuck outside the device. The patterns could be shown via the light glowing from inside of the chemiluminescent device. A similar method is described in China Patent 201507790U, wherein a chemiluminescent device is placed in a hollow printed packaging bag. The common features of this kind of glowing device are: the glowing with a silhouette effect, and the contour feature of the pattern is clear. However, the effect of color rendition and contrast levels for these patterns is bad. For example, as light is emitted from inside of the device, the levels and colors of pattern outside the device can not be discerned in total darkness.